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Home :: Daily :: How are you feeling about the US economic situation?

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How are you feeling about the US economic situation?

Daily | October 28th, 2008 by Danielle LaPorte

    “So you think that money is the root of all evil. Have you ever asked what is the root of all money?” – Ayn Rand

    Carrie says: I feel anxiety mixed with opportunity. An opportunity to see if my expectations are aligned with reality, an opportunity to create new beginnings and the opportunity to be grateful for my health, family, and friends: H&A, Kim, Grace, B&D, Nance, Shan, John S, Bec.
     

    Danielle says: Dread and divinity. I feel that ultimately, the strife is an opportunity to find some equilibrium in a crisis of over consumption and turning outward for love and satisfaction.
     
Related Posts:
The Upside of the Economic Downturn  |  Five tips to pivot from danger to opportunity.  |  Money Management From the Inside Out  |  
 

Viewing 47 Comments

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    Taking it a day at a time. Watching, and not wanting to make ANY big financial movements at this point.... sitting... waiting.... being blessed.
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    Overall,I'm not panicking and I wish the media and the President would quit trying to incite panic in people by constantly talking about the "dire" situation. The last time the market took a dump the front page of our paper made sure to include the word 'panic' in it's headline. That doesn't help things - it only makes it worse.
    As for the mortgage crisis, I feel like the rest of us are getting screwed because banks were stupid in lending money to people who are bad credit risks and homeowners were stupid in taking out a loan that they couldn't afford to buy more house than they needed. Those of us who are smart and responsible have to pay for others' stupidity. If you make bad choices you should have to deal with the consequences. Are we teaching our children that someone will always be there to bail them out and that they won't have to face the consequences of their actions?
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    The bailout has almost nothing to do with covering the bad mortgages the banks made, and a lot of those stupid people were fine till they lost their jobs, or worse were still paying their rents when the banks foreclosed on their landlords properties. The bailout will cover the banks butts for essentially "betting" on how many loans would fail. Some of these banks "bet" 4,5 or more times the entire value of their assets.
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    I agree with licarrit (below) about the bail out, and i also agree with you - that the media is fueling the fear and pandemonium - as they usually do. It's more important than ever that we turn inward - and to eachother - for guidance.
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    I'm scared. I'm trying really hard not to be, and I'm doing my best to see opportunity in the situation, but I am scared. My husband and I are moving this weekend to a more expensive apartment that we leased before the whole thing went completely south, so I guess I'm just anxious to see how it will all pan out for us in the first few months. Deep down, I know it will be fine, but I'm a worrier.
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    I hope things work out for you.
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    I feel disappointed that the question is posed to reinforce that it is really the US that governs the world's economy.

    It was time to reset. Too many people forgot over the last 10 years that to live on borrowed money is not wise and that living in today should not be at the expense of tomorrow. The fact that the western economies' meltdown is tied to overextended credit is just ironic.

    The US slowdown is one thing, throw in that the major users of primary and secondary products are not churning as fast as expected and this is a global issue.
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    Vaguely guilty, no I didn't default on a mortgage or anything but we just moved from the expensive to live Northeast to the slightly less expensive Midwest but got pay raises when we moved. My DD is also going to public school instead of us spending $20K a year for private elementary school and getting just as good an education, in some ways better. So personally, for us the last couple of months have been boom times. Now my retirement account has lost 1/3 of its value so its not like we are living in a bubble but I look at stock depreciation as an opportunity to buy more stock for the same money, I am also looking at moving my money to companies that believe in responsibility whether in their hiring practices or in their management of resources.
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    I feel those who have misused their positions within the financial sector, the grossley overpaid executives who have been self dealing for the past ten years, and the Federal Government have thoroughly trashed our economy. I remember the Administration strongly recommending we move Social Security and retirement funds into the stock market as a hedge against failure just a couple of years back. I believe they knew then what is happening now and it was an attempt to prevent or delay this failure. I believe this culture of greed has now caught up to those who have been involved. But, mostly I believe that when we come out of the other end of all this, we will be stronger for it. We will have learned a lesson from it, and it can result in changes that will ultimately be for the improvement of the country. This along with a number of other events over the past couple of years have underscored the need for Americans to stand up and be counted. It has opened the door for taking our country back from those who are only out for themselves. Whatever you believe, don't forget to vote in six days.
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    Everything to do with the economy freaks me out.
    I'm still a poor student so I worry about my future and if I'll be able to make money. I worry about my parents although they seem fine.
    I'm trying to remember to be grateful always.
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    My husband and I are doing pretty well and we are pumping money into the stock market. Now is such a good time to buy because it is going to come back. In 10 years this money I'm putting in will have tripled. Last year I paid a ton more for gas than I did this morning.

    I'm a huge believer in "what you think about, you bring about" and I choose not to panic or think that the everything is going badly. I think we are all going to get through this just fine and we are going to learn a lot from it.
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    Part of me wants to move to my off-the-grid vacation home in Maine and live off the land (and telecommute to my current job of course). *sigh*
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    I left my steady paycheck and benefits at a hellish job just before things went completely downhill. Now my clients say they can't come because of no money. I have creditors calling all day and evening. I have a stack of bills and no money to pay them. Seriously, NO money. My sweetheart and I are both small business owners. In his business, particularly (restaurant & catering) we have seen a vast decline over the past 4 years.
    All too typical example: Couple A gave a Christmas party for 500 in 2005. The party was for 150 in 2006. In 2007, they gave 2 small dinner parties. This year they are divorcing. This is par for the course across the board. Not the divorce part necessarily, but that does hint at the stress families face right now.
    Sorry to be Ms. Gloom and Doom this morning, but things are bad.
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    I'm so sorry things are tough, Ellen. I hope things start to look up for you very soon!
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    I'm truly sorry so many people are suffering. I feel anger that people with 'in the know' and 'in power' have built and maintained a financial house on such shaky ground and with so little regulation as I understand the situation. I feel frustrated that we as local, national, and global citizens have handed over so much power and 'allowed' our leaders to led without accountability. I believe this kind of correction is necessary and I actually worry that too much is being done to prevent an even deeper crisis from emerging. Too much avoidance of consequence and conflict in our world.
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    I'm a little unnerved and utterly fascinated (in that morbid kind of way that makes me watch horror movies). I can't believe the recent Greenspan admission of 'error' - excerpt below from NY Times:

    "Critics, including many economists, now blame the former Fed chairman for the financial crisis that is tipping the economy into a potentially deep recession. Mr. Greenspan’s critics say that he encouraged the bubble in housing prices by keeping interest rates too low for too long and that he failed to rein in the explosive growth of risky and often fraudulent mortgage lending."

    "But on Thursday, almost three years after stepping down as chairman of the Federal Reserve, a humbled Mr. Greenspan admitted that he had put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton mortgage lending."

    “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief,” he told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform."

    Huh? Wha? Seriously? Ahhhhhhhhh!

    And I'm about to buy and read Ravi Batra's book, The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos - apparently many of his predictions were correct this time around - will have to read it and see. Until then, I will continue watching - through my parted fingers, as my hands cover my eyes...
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    Ever since I graduated from pharmacy school, this is the first time that I have consciously had to mind my pennies. It's really kinda scary.
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    I have a feeling of being in limbo. Suspended animation. Thankfully, we have a fixed rate mortgage, some money in the bank, and jobs that appear to be steady for the moment. But it's best not to make any sudden moves. I am worried, and I feel stuck. Stuck with a shrinking, unsteady income, and stuck in my house. I know it's easy to blame people for taking on loans they couldn't afford to buy more house than they needed, but that's not quite correct. Here in Florida, people were taking on big loans to buy EXTREMELY modest homes and apartments-turned-condo, and almost all of the available rental properties were converted into condos. (I always wanted to live in a half-million dollar house, I just never thought it would be the one I was already in!) The prices became so inflated here, and affordable housing became non-existent. Anyone not wealthy, or lucky enough to have brought their house before the housing bubble started, had no choice but to get into a risky loan with the hope that they could refinance before their mortgage rate adjusted. It's very, very sad what's going on here. So basically, I guess I'm feeling really terrible about the US economic situation. I hope beyond hope that the people that really deserve their comuppance get it, but I think that's the banking, investment, real estate, and regulatory agencies, not the regular people that are going bankrupt just for buying a house or having to pay for medical care. I would like to pose a general question to all those that are living in countries where there is universal, gov't-run health care: that seems like Utopia to me. What's it like? What are the pros and cons?
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    I am with you on the feeling "in limbo". Our plans for the future and moving on up are currently on hold. We are having a hard time selling our gorgeous, well priced 1 bedroom apartment so that we can move up to a townhome, have more space and a larger mortgage, that we CAN afford. It's sort of a tease if you will. My husband and I have worked very hard for the past few years to move up in our companies, get raises and promotions, pay off student debts and save money, and now we can't do anything with it and we're still in the same place we were.

    I realize it's a blessing to have more money than you need but to me it's not the money, it's the result of that money and hard work being put on hold.

    I agree with many of you that the media creates panic. I believe that's a big part of why consumer confidence is down. The worst thing we can all do is stop spending money because it's all a part of the cycle. We don't spend money, small business can't make a profit, go out of business and employees are laid off, those employees don't have a job and can't pay their mortgage, foreclosure etc etc.

    I am really hopeful that the market is just correcting itself and we will all get past this.
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    I was moseying along, trying not to worry about things I can't control, reminding myself of all my backup plans... Then I started reading Naomi Wolf on HuffPo and now I'm just deer-in-the-headlights terrified.
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    Scared but hopeful.
    Scared because it just feels like the bottom could drop out at any moment.
    Hopeful that after the election, this mess can be turned around before it gets much worse.